


The Princess and the Dragon

by Arawynn



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Animal Death, Beauty and the Beast AU, F/M, Princess reader, Wolf Attack, dragon Bucky, royal au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:44:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22531471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arawynn/pseuds/Arawynn
Summary: In order to get more money for his constant wars, your brother Alexander sells you to a Dragon. Is he nothing but the selfish beast or is there more beneath his terrifying exterior?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 79





	The Princess and the Dragon

You had known that your brother was anything but a good ruler. There was nothing he loved as much as war. And ever since your father had decided to retire and live his old days in peace, there hadn’t been a single year your country hadn’t been at war. With your brother on the forefront, while you had stayed home and tried to somehow avoid the collapse of everything. But the constant battles ate up all the gold you managed to gain, no matter how hard you worked.

You had known for quite a while that something needed to change rather sooner than later. Though the way it did change had baffled you. Because despite all his mistakes, you had expected your brother to be better than...well _this_. But here you were, being sold to _a_ _Dragon_. For gold so your brother could continue his current pointless war.

For half an hour the two of them were trying to negotiate the price. _Your_ price. The Dragon wanted what they had apparently agreed upon during a previous meeting. Your brother wanted more. Tried to rise the amount of gold he could get by pointing out your virtues, like some animal on the market.

“Enough!”, the Dragon roared after nearly a full hour. You flinched, even though his anger wasn’t directed at you. “Either you take what I’m willing to give or you go home with empty hands. That’s my last word.”, he made clear. Your brother gulped and was suddenly very agreeable with what the beast said.

Without any kind of warning, you were pushed towards the Dragon while your brother grabbed the gold and ran. You stumbled to the ground, right in front of the Dragon. “Greedy coward.”, he grumbled. You looked up at him – he was quite obviously looking after your so-called brother. Though the part that was heart-broken about his betrayal refused to call him that. Instead it agreed with the Dragon.

* * *

A week went by. You worked for the Dragon as some strange kind of housekeeper. A lot of rubbish had piled up over time that you got rid of bit by bit. Though some pieces of what you’d consider rubbish seemed to be dear to him. At least, he threw horrible tantrums once he noticed that you wanted to throw them away. He was in general a rather unpleasant companion, always moody, incredible stubborn and quick to anger. Much like your brother, though at least the Dragon didn’t seem eager to go to war.

By the end of your first week as the Dragon’s servant, you made a discovery that shocked you just as much as the fact that you had been sold by your own brother. It was a helmet. Not really special in any kind or shape, except for the crest on its forehead. Your mother’s crest. Which meant somewhere in the Dragon’s hoard you’d find the rest of the armour. It had been supposed to be your part of the inheritance.

You simply held the helmet, shocked about what it implied. Your own brother had dared to sell his mother’s armour to the Dragon. Something you both had known as **_yours_ **ever since your mother had died. And since he hadn’t given anything but you to the creature the last time, it meant he had been trading with it more than once. He had lied to you, stolen what was supposed to be yours and betrayed you. And all of this for his stupid desire to be on battlefields.

Silently, you renounced any bond with him. He had thrown your trust and loyalty into your face and then shoved you into the Dragon’s den. From this day on, he’d be Alexander to you. _Not_ your brother. And certainly _not_ your King.

“What are you doing? I didn’t keep you so you could be lazy! Get back to work!”, the Dragon’s voice suddenly roared. You startled bad enough to drop the helmet you had been still holding. Without saying a word, you stood up and ran. Out of the den and back the way you had come.

Tears were falling from your eyes freely, but you ignored them. To the point where you had to stop because you didn’t see anything anymore. Wiping them away only helped a little. It was too much. The Dragon’s anger had only been the last straw to break the camel’s back.

* * *

Growling brought your attention back to the present quite violently. It hadn’t been the Dragon – you knew his voice and growl well enough by now – but none the less dangerous. A creature stepped out of some bushes that had seemed too small to hide anything that was larger than a fox. But this beast was a lot bigger than a fox. You had only ever heard of these creatures, but there was no way the beast in front of you was anything else.

A Dire Wolf. They were the larger, more aggressive and more dangerous cousins of the “common” wolves.

Its head was almost on the same level as your own head. There was a second growl from behind you. There was no need to turn around in order to know that there was another Dire Wolf right behind you. And more of them would most likely follow soon. They were pack animals, after all.

Your mind was surprisingly calm when it stated that you had no chance against the Dire Wolves. You wouldn’t have had one even if it was only one of them. Running away headless meant you hadn’t taken a weapon to defend yourself with. Even though the area around the Dragon’s hideout was known for being dangerous and housing wolves.

Suddenly, there was another roar. But this one was somewhat familiar. And it came from above. The Dragon – _your_ Dragon landed in front of you with a massive thud that was followed by another roar. For the first time, you could actually see him in all his glory. His scales – ruffled up to make him look even larger – were of a dark red colour that merged into maroon here and there. The tips of his scales and spikes were so dark you would have called them black if they hadn’t shimmered dark blue in the pale sunlight. Reluctant, you admitted to yourself that he looked impressive.

The Dire Wolves retreated a little, but apparently they didn’t want to just give up what would have been a certain and very easy meal. More appeared out of the bushes and from behind trees until the entire pack seemed to be present. You picked up a nice branch that might make a decent cudgel. Not the most effective weapon but better than nothing. Only a second later, the Wolves attacked. All at once.

You had no idea how long you fought for your life. Only two things mattered during that time: to stay close to the Dragon and to not turn your back to your attackers. Finally, the Dire Wolves seemed to decide that you weren’t worth the trouble and retreated – for real this time. About a dozen of them had been killed by the two of you – most of them had fallen victim to the sharp claws and teeth of the Dragon.

When you looked up at him, he was checking you over. His silvery-blue eyes were surprisingly soft. This fight had changed something between the two of you. It was difficult to see him as monster after he just came to your rescue. A hiss broke whatever had been going on. The Dragon – you didn’t know his name, if he even had one – inspected one of his wings. Blood was dripping from several holes in the skin.

“Is it a bad injury?”, you asked, honestly worried about your companion. There’d be no way to get him back to the cave should he pass out. He was too large and heavy. “No, but I shouldn’t fly for a while. My wings are the most vulnerable part.”, he answered surprisingly softly. When the Dragon turned around – most likely to get back towards his cave – you just joined him.

* * *

The return to his cave didn’t take long. The two of you walked in surprisingly comfortable and peaceful silence. Until now, you had either argued – often quite loudly – or refused to acknowledge each other entirely. Both had fried your nerves as you now realized.

Back inside, you carefully cleaned all those little piercing holes in the Dragon’s bat-like wings. He flinched and roared and started arguing again, but you stood your ground. He accepted his defeat and your treatment with quite a lot of grumbling, but it didn’t feel like he was actually angry at you.

“Thank you for saving my life.”, you said out of the blue. The Dragon – who had been flinching quite a lot – instantly stilled and moved his head to look at you. For a second, there was genuine surprise in his eye before it turned into something soft. “You’re welcome. And I apologize for being so harsh with you. Would you tell me what about that helmet made you so...emotional?”, he replied gently.

Instantly, you felt the tears and lump in your throat return. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...you don’t have to answer.”, the Dragon scrambled to say. In a very absurd way, it was cute which made you laugh. Despite the tears. It took a couple moments until you calmed down enough to speak coherently again. “It belonged my mum and was supposed to be mine one day. I haven’t expected to see it in a place like this.”, you answered.

The Dragon’s eye went big. As if he just realized something. “So you’re the Princess. And that greedy moron who sold you to me was your brother.”, he said with an angry growl, though it wasn’t directed at you. “Only by blood. He lost that right when he decided to sell me for his stupid addiction to war and battles.”, you answered with your head held high. The sadness you had felt about his betrayal had long since been replaced by anger. After a couple moments of watching you closely, the Dragon nodded contently.

“It’s late. We should go to sleep.”, he suddenly said. You simply nodded. The exhaustion of this very long and emotional day chose this moment to catch up with you. And it hit you like a battering ram. Even the short way to your bed was almost too much.

* * *

When you woke up the next morning, it was of your own accord. Not because a certain someone decided to be a dick and wake you up the moment he did, as it had been during the past week. Moreover, there was breakfast next to your bed. Not fancy at all and a lot more than you’d be able to eat for breakfast alone, but it was a sweet gesture. It made you smile softly.

After finishing your meal, you went looking for the Dragon to check his injuries. Even if they were tiny in comparison to his size, you didn’t want to risk an infection. He was kind of lying at the cave’s entrance and looked outside. Snow was falling in thick flakes and had already covered the world in a white blanket. It was _the first snow_ of the year. “How are you?”, you asked gently, somehow not wanting to disturb the peace.

The Dragon simply made an indefinable noise in the back of his throat. It wasn’t grumpy or angry, but not happy either. You didn’t bother to keep asking – if he didn’t want to talk about something, he wouldn’t. You knew that already. “I wanted to take a look at your wings. Make sure they’re healing properly.”, you simply continued talking. The Dragon didn’t answer, but stretched out his wings so you could inspect them to your heart’s content. Carefully, you ran your hands along the injured parts. The Dragon didn’t flinch this time which you considered a good sign. “They’re looking good.”, you said softly.

* * *

Weeks went by, coined by a growing mutual respect and even friendship between yourself and the Dragon. His name was James, he had told you one day. Though it had been a long time since he used it last. You didn’t leave his cave a lot, but you had no real desire to do so. The two of you had started working together to get his cave in order and – upon the Dragon’s insistence – you had started with putting together your mother’s armour. It had even gotten a special place.

Overall, your life was surprisingly good. James proved himself as good and intelligent dialogue partner once he abandoned that angry and straight up awful personality he had displayed in the beginning. He still showed it, but apologized every time you called him out for it. And over the course of time, it happened less and less. Nobody showed up for any kind of trade, not even the poor excuse of a brother. A part of you was certain that James would disperse him the moment he’d show up again. You had told him your story and he had gotten angry at Alexander on your behalf.

* * *

Then, one day everything changed again. James told you that your brother had died in one of his many battles. There was very little sadness to find in you – it had been expectable that he’d be among the dead sooner or later. “What about the Kingdom? And father?”, you asked James.

“In shambles. Your father tries his best but he’s grieving. And your brother made many enemies.”, he answered, his voice soft and melancholic. It seemed like he knew just as much as you what was to come. Even though a large part of you didn’t want to. “Will you let me go? It’s my duty to protect the people. To smooth his mistakes out as much as I can. Once everything is in order and I found a suitable successor, I will return.”

James shook his head, the sadness in his silvery-blue eyes painfully obvious. “There’s nobody as suitable as you, Y/N. Do what needs to be done. You’re free.”, he replied softly. Your vision got blurry from tears. Not knowing what to say, you simply hugged James. After a couple seconds, he wrapped his wings around your shaking form – his version of a hug. “Maybe just...don’t forget me?”, he asked after a while. A sad laugh escaped you. “I will remember the time I spent here with fondness.”, you answered.

Since you owned nothing, there was nothing you needed to pack. Though James made you take and wear your mother’s armour. It obviously made him sad to give the armour away, but he was firmly convinced that it had never belonged him in the first place.

* * *

There was a massive turmoil when you returned home – your brother had declared you as kidnapped and most likely dead upon his return from selling you – but nobody dared to question your claim to the throne. Even before officially being crowned the new Queen, you started peace negotiations with all those countries your brother had been at war with. Most of them had happily agreed, as they were tired of war. Others had been wary of your intentions but eventually they too agreed to end the pointless battles.

Your efforts to restore peace and trade had sadly not only brought you allies and partners. One friend of Alexander – his closest childhood friend Duke Rumlow who shared your brother’s fondness for war – had openly declared himself your enemy before he left the Court and Kingdom. You decided against going after him for as long as he he had left you alone.

After half a year, everything had settled down. There was peace, the Kingdom and its people finally flourished again and the amount of work you needed to do reduced noticeably. It was at this time that your advisors started nagging you about finding a husband and having children to continue the Royal Family’s bloodline. You were quite unwilling to do so. Because while there was no shortage of fitting suitors, you just couldn’t imagine marrying one of them.

You had never admitted it to anybody, but you were in love with James. You hadn’t realized it until well after your departure. But as soon as you had, everything inside you refused to be with a man who wasn’t him. The wish to find a suitable successor and return to your Dragon had been strong, but James had been right with his _There’s nobody as suitable as you_. The possible candidates proved themselves as not fit for the responsibility of being the monarch of a country.

* * *

One day – you still hadn’t found a replacement for yourself – you got word that Duke Rumlow was marching towards the Palace. With an army and the strong will to conquer your home. He was already too close for any of your allies to reach you in time. With a heavy heart, you called every eligible man to weapons and donned your mother’s armour to lead them yourself. It was something personal between you and Brock, that much was clear.

You and your own army waited for Brock on a field. Close to midday, they too arrived. There was no talking or negotiating before the battle – you knew it would be nothing but a waste of time. The battle itself was long and hard, the armies had been of roughly equal size at the beginning, but it was easy to lose track of those things while fighting for your life. Because as much as you hated battles and war, you weren’t letting others lay down their lives while you watched idly.

At some point, it was you and Brock himself against each other. All the other battles seemed to have stopped in order to watch you. It was obvious that this duel would decide the end of the entire confrontation. You did your best and did pretty well considering how much more experience Brock had. But at some point he used a dirty trick and suddenly his sword was at your throat.

A second later, he too had a sword at his throat. Though it wasn’t yours. The man on the other side of the sword had chin-long brown hair that had been partially tied into a knot so it wouldn’t be in the way when he fought. His armour was of a dark red that merged into maroon here and there. It was crested with a colour that seemed to be black at first, but something told you it wasn’t actually black. And when his eyes darted over to you for a second, they were of a very familiar silvery-blue.

It was obvious who that knight had to be. And while you were confused as to why he suddenly was a human, the incredible joy of seeing him by far outweighed. “You will sheathe your sword _right now_. Then, you and your army will leave and _never come back_.”, he ordered, incredible calm and with a natural authority few people had. Rumlow did as he was told, even though you could see the burning hatred in his eyes. Also because James had brought an army that was noticeably larger than his had been at the beginning.

The moment Brock and his army had defintely left, James kneeled down in front of you. “I’m James Barnes, Prince of Andiel. At your service, Your Majesty.”, he said, a picture-perfect formal introduction of a Prince meeting a Queen for the first time. But somehow, it _stung_. When he had been a Dragon, neither of you had cared about formalities or titles. You hadn’t even known that he must have been human at some point! And a Prince at that!

“Prince James, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Be my guest, I wish to host a banquet in order to properly thank you for saving me.”, you replied just as formally. “With the greatest pleasure, Your Majesty.”, he answered softly.

* * *

The banquet would take place the next day. After all, it was supposed to be something special and the preparations for that would take time. You had asked James to join you for dinner, hoping that he’d tell you what had happened after you left him. It would be only you and him.

As soon as the servants had left, it was back to the friendship between the two of you. He even asked that you called him Bucky, which you gladly did. The Prince told you his entire story over the course of the dinner. A couple years ago, he had been in a situation a lot like your brother – always hungry for battle, war and the fame it was supposed to bring, absolutely disregarding the lives of his men and the well-being of his people.

But unlike your brother, he had been cursed to be a Dragon. Until he learned compassion, love and to put the needs of others above his own. A while after he had let you leave, he had been transformed back into his old human self. Bucky then instantly had returned to his own home country – a direct neighbour of yours that had been crumbling for as long as you could remember – and attempted to right the wrongs he had done. His parents too had been old and had really needed his help to re-build the country.

The fact that he had come to your rescue had been a complete coincidence. Andiel had gotten stable enough for Bucky to be able to pay you a short visit. His parents had insisted on the army to accompany him because he was the only heir to the throne. They didn’t want to risk losing him again, now that he had actually developed a sense of responsibility.

* * *

By the time you had reached that part of his story, the two of you were sitting in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine each. “That part about love...does it...involve me?”, you asked carefully. A bright blush covered Bucky’s cheeks. “Well...the witch who cursed me said that I’d need to “learn to love and be loved in return”. And you’re the first person I’ve ever truly fallen in love with. Though I never expected that anybody could ever fall in love with a Dragon.”, he answered shyly. His gaze firmly locked on the glass in his hands.

Your cheeks heated up as blood rushed in. “I didn’t realize until after I had returned home. It just...grew after the incident with the Dire Wolves.”, you admitted. Bucky gently touched your hand. “Would you let me court you? I don’t have much to offer besides my love for you. But it’s honest.”, he replied carefully.

Following the incredible burst of joy you felt, you flung your arms around his neck. A part of you had known the entire time that there was only one man you were willing to marry: Prince James Barnes of Andiel, whom you had gotten to know as James the Dragon. “Yes! Please court me. I don’t care that you’re in the midst of re-building your kingdom, I’ve been doing the same. And there’s no better person I could imagine to be my husband.”, you answered happily.

Bucky laughed and hugged you back. “You have no idea how happy this makes me. It’s the best Christmas present I ever got.”, the brunet said. Your eyes widened, shocked by his words. “Christmas?” You had absolutely not cared about which day it was. There had been too much work, especially with the threat of Rumlow. “Yes. It’s Christmas. The time of miracles and dreams becoming true.”, the Prince answered with a soft smile.


End file.
